Rodgers and Hammerstein Musicals Get New Releases from Fox
Posted on April 10, 2014 at 3:37 pm
Fox Home Entertainment is releasing the Rodgers & Hammerstein Blu-ray Collection on May 6. This Amazon-exclusive collection will feature six of the 15-time Academy Award-winning movie musicals by the EGOT and Pulitzer Award-winning team of Rodgers & Hammerstein, including Best Picture winner The Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, The King and I, South Pacific, State Fair, and Carousel.
The set features brand new 4K digital restorations of The King and I and Carousel, the only two films made in CinemaScope55, and Oklahoma! meticulously restored in 4K from 8K scans of 65mm Todd-AO film elements in its original road show version at the unusual original frame rate of 30 frames per second.
Bonus materials include a Sing-A-Long version of The King and I for die-hard musical theatre lovers and more than an hour of behind-the-scenes features for Oklahoma!
Fox will release Oklahoma! and The King and I in stand-alone Blu-ray and DVD combo packs October 7 in commemoration of their 60th anniversaries in 2015 and 2016.
Set over three decades in the entertainment business, the story charts the relationship between three friends Franklin, Mary and Charley. Travelling backwards in time, this powerful and moving story features some of Sondheim’s most beautiful songs including “Good Thing Going” and “Not a Day Goes By.” As an extra treat, cinema audiences will be treated to an exclusive backstage experience with cast interviews and more.
It began as a rare flop for George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, the writing team behind many of the biggest box office successes of the middle 20th century, including “You Can’t Take It With You” (which became an Oscar-winning movie) and “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” It was innovative because it presented the story in reverse order. In the first scene, the characters are established show business figures, though not very happy. Each succeeding scene takes us back in time as we see the characters make compromises and lose their innocence, until the final moments, when we see them as seniors graduating from college, filled with optimistic dreams.
In 1981, writer/actor George Furth and composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim adapted it into a musical and again it was a financial failure, unlike their other collaboration, “Company.” But it has been amended and revived to great success and this highly acclaimed London production should be very satisfying.
Warner Brothers has issued a spectacular collection of musical films, from the ground-breaking “The Jazz Singer” to classics like “Cabaret,” “Signin’ in the Rain,” “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” and “The Music Man.” This is a treasure that should be in every family DVD library, and every school and community library as well. It includes:
The Jazz Singer ( 1927) Al Jolson plays the son of a cantor who wants to sing popular music in this groundbreaking film that was the first live-action film with a synchronized soundtrack. (Remade twice, with Danny Thomas and Neil Diamond)
Broadway Melody of 1929 Winner of the second Best Picture Oscar, this early talkie includes “Give My Regards to Broadway,” “You Were Meant for Me.”
42nd Street (1933) “You’re going out there a chorus girl, but you’re coming back a STAR!” This classic pre-code backstage musical features the title tune and “Shuffle Off to Buffalo.”
The Great Ziegfeld (1936) Another Best Picture winner (and Best Actress for Luise Rainer), this story of impressario Florenz Zeigfeld has rare filmed performances by Fanny Brice (the singer Barbra Streisand played in “Funny Girl”).
The Wizard Of Oz (1939) One of the most beloved films of all time, this enduring classic has Judy Garland singing “Over the Rainbow” and following the yellow brick road to see the wizard.
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) James Cagney plays the bantam-like singer/dancer/performer George M. Cohan in this biopic of the superstar who wrote classics like “For it was Mary” and “Give My Regards to Broadway.”
An American in Paris ( 1951) Gene Kelly. George Gershwin. Vincente Minnelli. Glorious.
Show Boat (1951) This second version of the Jerome Kern musical based on the Edna Ferber story stars Ava Gardner, Marge and Gower Champion, Howard Keel, and Kathryn Grayson, with classic songs like “Old Man River” (sung by Wiliam Warfield in the part played by Paul Robeson in the original), “Life Upon the Wicked Stage,” and “Only Make Believe.”
Singin’ In The Rain (1952) This may just be the perfect movie as comedy, romance, satire, and musical. Gene Kelly is the silent movie star who has to adjust to the talkie era. In addition to the rapturous title number, the movie features Donald O’Connor’s classic “Make ‘Em Laugh.”
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) Seven rambunctious red-headed backwoods brothers named in alphabetical order (Adam, Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephram, Frank, and Gideon) are tamed by love in this rollicking musical with wildly athletic dance numbers choreographed by Michael Kidd.
A Star Is Born (1954) Judy Garland and James Mason star in the second (of three–so far) versions of the story of the fading star who marries a rising star. Garland sings “The Man That Got Away” and “Born in a Trunk” and introduces herself as “Mrs. Norman Maine!”
The Music Man (1962) Robert Preston re-creates his legendary stage performance as “Professor Harold Hill,” a con man who sells a small Iowa town on the idea of a boys’ band. He plans to skip town before they discover that he has no idea of how to teach kids to play instruments, but then he meets “Marian the Librarian” (an almost impossibly pretty Shirley Jones) and things get complicated. Songs include “Trouble,” “76 Trombones,” “Goodnight My Someone,” and “Til There Was You.” And a barbershop quartet singing “Lida Rose.”
Viva Las Vegas (1964) Elvis and Ann-Margret sing and dance. What else do you need to know?
Camelot (1967) The grand Lerner and Lowe musical about King Arthur, Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot stars Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, and Franco Nero. Songs include “The Lusty Month of May,” “If Ever I Should Leave You,” and the poignant title number.
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971) This is the first and best version of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book about the poor boy who finds a golden ticket to visit the world’s most magnificently magical candy factory. Too bad for the naughty kids who are greedy and spoiled!
Cabaret (1972) The film, director Bob Fosse, and stars Joel Gray and Liza Minnelli won Oscars for this searing musical about pre-WWII Germany, brilliantly presented in an adult musical that deals with issues like the rise of the Nazi party, anti-Semitism, and “divine” decadence.
That’s Entertainment (1974) This delicious compilation includes highlights of dozens of classic and underrated musicals and led to two sequels.
Victor, Victoria (1983) James Garner, Robert Preston, and Julie Andrews star in a wildly funny musical about an impoverished singer whose career takes off when she pretends to be a man pretending to be a woman.
Little Shop Of Horrors (1986) Possibly the most improbable source for a musical was a cheap horror film about a carnivorous plant, shot over a weekend. But the cheeky score made it a theatrical hit and this movie version is a lot of fun.
Hairspray (1988) John Waters’ non-musical film about the controversy over integration on a teen dance show in 1960’s Baltimore inspired this musical remake with John Travolta as the mother of the adorable Tracy (Nikki Blonsky). Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah, and Zac Efron co-star in this tuneful treat that includes “Good Morning Baltimore,” “Run and Tell That,” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat.”
Katie Wexler is one of the stars of Most Valuable Players, a sensational new documentary about three high school teams competing to win the Freddy Awards for theatrical productions. The Freddys are like the high school version of the Tony Awards. The movie shows that musical theater can be as thrillingly suspenseful and wildly entertaining backstage as it is from a front-row seat. Katie answered my questions about her dream role, her biggest challenge, and the best advice she ever got about performing.
What’s your favorite role that you’ve played and what’s one you wish you could play?
Picking a favorite role is tough! I always equate working on a show to gaining a best friend in the character you’re playing, and then never getting to spend time with them once the show closes. It sounds mildly morbid I guess, but that’s the kind of bond I form with the leading ladies I’ve played. I think I’d have to say I had the most fun playing Dot in Sunday in the Park with George. She is fiesty and hilarious and the range of growth she experiences throughout the show is tremendous, challenging, and an incredible ride for the actress on board. I am getting ready to work on Reno inAnything Goes in the spring time and she may give Dot a run for her money in the feisty department, so we’ll see how I feel come April!
Now dream role? Well, that’s every actor’s favorite question! No brainer. Eva Peron in Evita. And not the movie-Madonna-stuff…I mean Patti LuPone-Tony-Award-winning stuff!
Do you have a favorite musical?
I pace back and forth on the favorite musical spectrum between Sweeney Todd and1776. So, either a vengeful-murdering-singing-barber or singing-dancing-founding fathers. See? How can you not love musical theatre?!
What surprised you when you first began to learn about Broadway musical theater?
Hmm. “Broadway” musical theatre is such a teensy tiny microcosm of the art form ‘musical theatre’. There are brilliant musical theatre productions both old and new being mounted all over the United States in regional theatres, even some that tour through it! Broadway is only the tip of this wonderful iceberg. The regional theatres that adapt, engineer, and re-engineer timeless favorites, as well as invent new pieces that may make their way to Broadway, all over the country are the unsung heroes of the musical theatre world, I think.
What has been your biggest challenge as a performer?
Letting go. And whatever ‘letting go’ means on that day; whether it’s leaving behind stress, a terrible day, letting go of preconceived notions of what is ‘silly’ or feels uncomfortable. Letting go of insecurities and trusting yourself, fellow actors, and directors is so important. There’s really no room once you’re in the rehearsal space for anything else but letting go to the show or the piece and letting the work have an untainted life of its own.
What’s the best advice you ever got about performing?
Embrace your own uniqueness. The sooner a performer is ok with who they are; I mean fully come to terms with flaws, insecurities, weaknesses, strengths, and skills, and like it. Love it! Our job is to honestly portray humans on stage and what a better well to draw inspiration from than the life you know best—your own!
Do the Freddy Awards create too much pressure or do they inspire kids to do their best?
As far as my experiences have informed me, there are no negative consequences of the Freddy Awards. Of course some people will take competitive situations to the next level, but that’s any situation in life. It’s no different from kid’s pitting rival sports teams against each other in high school, it’s another way we motivate ourselves to do better. I know concerns had been expressed that theatre was such a different medium than sports that to “judge” and “win” were somehow bad words to qualify an art form, but from my experiences in the theatre both at the college level and professionally, it is painfully competitive out there just as much for actors as it is for professional athletes. High school thespians deserve their moment in the limelight for all the heart and time those kids put into the productions, and the Freddy’s has done a great job at giving it to them. If a little competition brings the community into the process and pushes these young artists to work harder, I say no harm no foul!
Tomorrow: An interview with Producer/Director Matthew Kallis.
Fox Home Entertainment is releasing the Rodgers & Hammerstein Blu-ray Collection on May 6. This Amazon-exclusive collection will feature six of the 15-time Academy Award-winning movie musicals by the EGOT and Pulitzer Award-winning team of Rodgers & Hammerstein, including Best Picture winner The Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, The King and I, South Pacific, State Fair, and Carousel.
, a sensational 